China: The World's Largest Energy Consumer and Investor in Clean Energy

In 2010 China achieved number one status in two infamous categories: energy consumption and carbon emissions. In the same year, however, it was also the world's number one investor in clean energy, nearly doubling the U.S. investment over the same period.

While counterintuitive, these are just some of the indicators of the intriguing trends in China's energy and environment sectors. This China Environment Forum publication takes a deep look into fast changing energy and climate trends within China and how they pose opportunities and challenges to U.S.-China relations.

"China and the United States are the two largest national emitters of the greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change, and together comprise almost half of global emissions. Any global solution to climate change must therefore include participation by these two countries." –Joanna Lewis, Georgetown University.

Highlights of the report include:

An extensive overview of the history of U.S.-China climate and energy cooperation

(The IEA data--World Energy Outlook 2010 - Executive Summary--suggests that China overtook the United States in 2009 to become the world's largest energy consumer. Srikingly, Chinese energy use was only half that of the United States in 2000 -- D.R.)